Arabica coffee is a high-quality variety of coffee that is widely produced in South America, Asia, East Africa, and Arabia. It is more expensive and difficult to produce than Robusta coffee due to its susceptibility to damage from cold temperatures, bad weather, and pests. Arabica coffee is known for its smooth, mellow, and rich flavor and is commonly found in single-origin gourmet coffees.
The term “Arabica” often refers to a species of coffee plant, the coffea arabica shrub. It can also refer to the beans produced from this plant or to the coffee brewed from those beans. The name comes from the Arabian Peninsula, one of the areas where the shrub was originally grown. It is one of the most widely produced coffee varieties in the world and is generally recognized as superior in taste and quality to another coffee variety known as Robusta coffee.
Arabica coffee is most commonly grown in South America, Asia, East Africa and, of course, Arabia. The country of Brazil is a major producer of this variety of coffee, despite the fact that the Brazilian climate offers less than ideal growing conditions for coffee. Coffee plants thrive when grown at a relatively high altitude in a temperate climate with lots of rainfall. The Arabica shrub especially flowers when planted in moderate shade conditions.
Coffee shrubs sprout small white flowers about 3-4 years after being planted. The flowers of Arabica shrubs do not need an external pollination source to create fruit; rather, they self-pollinate. Coffee fruits begin to develop about two months after fertilization. The familiar coffee bean is actually the seed of the coffee fruit. It takes eight to nine months for the fruit to mature from a small green pinhead to a large deep red berry, at which point the beans can be harvested, processed and roasted.
Producing this variety of coffee is often more expensive and difficult than producing Robusta beans, which means that the coffee itself tends to cost more as well. Robusta shrubs do not necessarily require high altitudes for cultivation and can be grown in warmer temperatures. Arabica shrubs are more susceptible to damage from cold temperatures, bad weather and pests. Diseases that affect coffee plants are also less likely to affect Robusta shrubs.
Another possible reason for the expensive variety of coffee is that most coffee drinkers tend to agree that it tastes better. As the name suggests, Robusta beans have a robust body, but their flavor is less complex, more acidic and bitter. Arabica coffees are often described as smooth, mellow or rich and tend to have less caffeine than other commercially produced coffees. Coffea arabica beans can be found in many well-known single-origin gourmet coffees, such as Sumatran, Colombian, Guatemalan, and Javanese.
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